AMAZE

About this entry

At AMAZE, our goal is to make sex ed approachable, engaging, and informative for very young adolescents (ages 10-14), which is why our tagline is "More info. Less weird." AMAZE—an award winning animated video series and a collaboration between national sex education experts Advocates for Youth, Answer and Youth Tech Health—is a groundbreaking global initiative to provide young adolescents, their parents and educators with animated and often humorous videos about puberty, healthy relationships, consent and other important sex education topics. We believe in providing accurate information that is age appropriate and focuses on answering the questions young people really want to know, on a platform they use every day—YouTube. Since it's launch in September 2016, the AMAZEOrg YouTube channel has garnered over 16K subscribers and has exceeded 2.5 Million views across 200 countries

Why does this entry deserve to win?

AMAZE is 21st century sex education for 21st century youth! In the internet age, there is an endless amount of information at a young person's fingertips—some good, some horrifying and much that is pornographic. By reaching young people where they are on social media, AMAZE cuts through the myths and misinformation and provides access to developmentally appropriate and medically accurate information.

AMAZE's journey began with focus groups to assess the needs of 10-to 14-year-olds. This process took about six months and confirmed this age group's need for age-appropriate, accurate sexual health information. The focus groups not only confirmed that young people wanted and needed accurate information, but they also confirmed that this age group's exposure to sophisticated technology and edgy media meant that the delivery of this information had to be very creative.

The focus group findings, input from our parent and youth advisory boards, as well as experts in youth marketing were instrumental in the AMAZE team's decision to the create videos that live on both AMAZE's YouTube channel and Amaze.org. The AMAZE team uses YouTube, Instagram and Snapchat to reach 10-to 14 year-olds, and Facebook, Twitter and AMAZE.org to reach out adult audience. Recognizing the critical role parents and educators play in educating young people about their changing bodies, sex and healthy relationships, AMAZE also provides resources for parents and educators to use in talking with the young people in their lives. The AMAZE videos are fun, approachable and facilitate communication between young people and parents, guardians and educators.

Do we have the right formula?…We hope so, but our product is under constant review by the most critical evaluators possible—the youth themselves, as well as parents and educators. We take our youth feedback seriously and want to make sure we provide them with materials and information relevant to their lives. Our #AskAMAZE on our Instagram is an example of this.

CREATIVE COMMONS

Our videos are published under the Creative Commons License and are available to be viewed by anyone at no cost.

CURRENT INITIATIVES

YOUTUBE FOR GOOD: YouTube for Good has invited AMAZE, along with three other NGOs- Doctors without Borders, ACLU, and the Trevor Project- to receive agency support in an effort to accelerate the growth of our brand. We are honored to have been selected for such a unique and special opportunity!

AMAZE Jr.: The AMAZE team is now developing video content to help parents and educators introduce younger children to age- and developmentally-appropriate information. This new content will be available to parents and educators through the My AMAZE portal in 2018.

INTERNATIONALIZATION: AMAZE is in the process of going international! Our website and ten core videos are currently being translated into ten of the world's most spoken languages. The initial videos will be in Spanish to focus on our largest international audience. Our long-term goal is to provide localized versions of the website and the videos that are culturally appropriate for our international country partners.

Results

Since its debut in September 2016, AMAZE has published 37 educational videos on topics including puberty, gender identity and expression, pregnancy and reproduction, healthy relationships, STDs and HIV, sexual orientation, and personal safety, to its YouTube channel and website. Of these videos, three have won awards (Telly, Communicator, & ASIFA East). Over the course of the year the AMAZEOrg YouTube channel has garnered over 16K subscribers and has exceeded 2.5 Million views across 200 countries. To reach youth, educators, and parents, our content is published on five social media platforms: YouTube, Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, and Twitter. AMAZE has been mentioned in over 40 articles over the course of the year by outlets such as NPR, Teen Vogue, The New York Times, Huffington Post, Vice, and Bustle to name a few!

Links

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